Rakesh Pawar, 27, still can't believe, the Chinese video making app 'TikTok' has been banned by the government of India. Pawar used to spend his regular afternoons at the paddy fields of Kolhapur's Shirol tehsil, dancing to Hindi songs of 90s while his younger brother, Ramesh used to shoot the videos. Over the last one year, Pawar has earned around four lakh followers in the app, which also made him a local poster boy.
"I was introduced to the app when a group of tourists visited us in Kolhapur. Since then I took to making videos, I was always fond of Bollywood songs and films and enjoyed creating contents," stated Pawar.
Pawar's popularity multiplied within days; often he used to get invitations to perform at local cultural programs, weddings and community events from where he used to earn extra money.
"The banning of app feels unreal. I became popular and earned fame because of this app. I also get offers to dance at programs because of this app, for a moment it felt I lost my identity," stated Pawar.
Rasika Mohite is a popular face in her Dhule's Shirpur. Known as the local TikTok queen, Mohite is known in her village for imitating popular dialogues of hindi film heroines.
Mohite had more than 10 lakh followers in TikTok and around 5 lakh in another Chinese video making 'Helo' app. In 2019, Dhule earned around Rs 40,000 by creating contents in this app.
After the news if app ban came on television, Mohite felt as if she has lost her source of revenue.
"I cried all night and couldn’t believe the news. It appeared as if I have lost my job and my identity," said Mohite.
"We support the government on this, but at the same time they must come with a remedy, as many Indian youths are very much active on these platforms," she added.
Mohite's friend and co-content creator, Sivani Gangane stated for many in their village, creating TikTok videos was a mode of employment.
"People in our villages hardly go to school. I myself studied till 10th standard, for us creating these videos not only gave us joy but it was also an employment opportunity for us," said Gangane.
In 2018, she won a grand prize of Rs 10,000 being the best TikTok video creator in her village, last year she was the second runner up earning Rs 5,000.
"Not everyone gets to earn money from the app, but many gets offers to perform and dance at community programs and weddings. Some also got an opportunity to work as background artists at Marathi film industry, as event organisers are quite active on this app and they contact the artists directly, if they like our content," added Gangane.
Ganesh Repal, 27, initially when joined TikTok in 2018, used to dance and imitate hindi actors, however his videos didn't get much attention so he started to make his own comedy videos.
Repal aspired to be an actor in the film industry and wonders that someday his performance will be shown at movie theaters.
"For people like us who come from villages getting a break in the Hindi-Marathi film industry is very difficult. Also we don't have the finances to attend workshops. As a result we hone our skills on TikTok and made our own audience base," said Repal.
"For us creating these 15-30 second mini videos used to give us sheer joy. It felt like our own Bollywood, however let's just hope this is not the end and there will be an Indian alternative soon," said an optimistic Repal.
